Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Tokyo: Disney Sea

When I started my journey as a Disney Cast Member 7 years ago {really that long? ack!} I was most excited about free theme park admission. Sure, there are other perks, but I grew up going to Walt Disney World for every vacation, and it is a Bucket List item to visit every Disney Park in the world. Am I obsessed? Possibly.

So, you can imagine when I planned my trip to Tokyo that I planned some time at the Tokyo Disney Resort. This was hard for me. There is so much to do in Tokyo, and so many potential day trips, and I wanted to do all of them. To compromise this, I decided to buy a one-day ticket and to start at Tokyo Disney Sea {there are two parks, Tokyo Disneyland, and Tokyo Disney Sea, and like WDW, they require separate admission. There are not park-hopper passes}. I figured, Tokyo Disneyland is JUST like the Magic Kingdom, and if I was only going for one day, I would rather experience something new.

This park is like a cross between EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is home to 7 lands or "ports of call" which sort of resemble the World Showcase in EPCOT. Various rides can be found in their appropriate Port of Call {The Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania were in New York, for instance} and there were even a few imaginary ones. Mermaid's Lagoon was an underground respite from the sun, and Mysterious Island boasted attractions such as Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

I loved this park!

When you go to the Tokyo Disney Resort, you have to take a train from the city and then connect with the Disney Resort Line. You feel like you're in Disney right away with trains that look like this:

I was obviously smitten. The day kept getting better as I experience the magic of Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones, Minnie Mouse Ice Cream and Mermaid Lagoon.

And, I even ran into a few friends along the way!

Needless to say, I had so much fun that I had to extend my one-day ticket into a two-day ticket and go to Tokyo Disneyland the next day!